When it comes to franchise marketing, you don’t have to do it all! There is power within your brand which many franchises miss out on tapping into. Coconut’s Paul Clegg explains all.
Did you know the key to improving your franchise marketing could be sitting right under your nose?! People connect with two things: Other people and a good story.
But, so often, brands are afraid to really utilise these two elements within their marketing strategy, for fear it will make them seem too informal, or unprofessional. When in actual fact, because of the way the world has changed, clinging on to old ways of doing things are making you look disconnected and unapproachable.
You have incredible power right beside you. If only you knew where to look; right?! So, let me – in a manner of speaking – shine a light on where your magic box of tools is hiding in plain sight: Your network.
It’s highly likely you’re already aware of this, and are using case studies, for example, to share your franchisees’ journey into starting their franchise. But, this is only part of it. You’ve inserted the key into the lock; now it’s time to unlock the potential for your marketing strategy within your brand. Your franchisees should be your biggest advocates.
The online advocate
I’ve recently seen a number of posts online from various franchise conferences. It’s great to see content from the event – videos, photos, posts celebrating what’s happening. But how many of your franchisees shared their own photos, posts and videos from the same event? Did you share, or comment on them from your main brand page? I know one of our team, who manages one of our clients’ social media, was quick to share content when she spotted it, to the main brand social media page.
The value of this is to show the real people involved in your franchise. It’s authentic – as the content you share isn’t polished and generated from central HQ. It’s been created on the spur of the moment, by those franchisees who are loving what they’re doing, at one moment in time, so they post about it. Real people, genuinely loving what they’re doing as part of your franchise. Powerful stuff!
The in-person advocate
As much as we marketers like to think we’re in control of lead generation… I hate to break it to you, but we are so far removed from being in control! If anyone is in control, it’s your lead. Followed closely by your franchisees. When they’re happy in what they’re doing as part of your brand, you can guarantee they will let others know.
For example, one of our clients onboarded a multi-franchise owner. He was so impressed with his new franchise, the support he receives, and the business model, he’s literally told his whole network. The upshot? The franchise had an influx of new franchisees who all joined because of what this one person had experienced.
The collective advocate
From experience, we know your prospect is checking you out well before you become aware of their existence. This not only means they’re watching you at Head Office level. They’re watching your franchisees too. Not just in terms of how they run their business, or what content you put out about them. But at the signs of success, too.
You can use this to your advantage, by talking about the successes: The franchisees who was able to buy their own home; the one who works from the beach whilst travelling; or the franchisee who had the means to embark on an epic Harley Davidson journey across Europe. We actually had one client who invited prospective franchisees to one of their annual conference, just so they could see the types of cars franchisees drive, as a measure of their success. Quality vehicles speak volumes!
Tapping into your internal power source
By making use of the people within your network, you can help to tell a brand story which holds more power than just pushing out the content you create. Showing, rather than telling, of the success from within your network will have a much bigger impact on your prospects.
So, use stories of success – not just work-related ones – from your franchisees. Stories like:
- life goals achieved
- personal work-life and family balance created
- customer feedback (screenshots of reviews, emails, text messages)
- opportunities for giving back or making a difference
- collective satisfaction as a franchise
Sometimes this is as simple as sharing to your main page something posted on one of your franchisee pages. Or, having seen something, asking your franchisee if they’d be happy to elaborate on their success and share it with in in a video, a podcast, or a blog.
If you want to discover how to use of the hidden power of your brand: the people and their stories, my team and I would love to help you explore what you have. Drop me a line, and let’s see how, together, we can create advocates who show the remarkableness of franchising.
